Today is Sunday, March 18 and there are only 148 days until National Prosecco Day and National Filet Mignon Day, so get a couple bottles chilled and get the grill ready.  Today we remember the birthdays of Raphael, Charley Pride and Queen Latifah.  On this day in 1543 Hernando de Soto observed the first recorded flood in America (Mississippi River), in 1673 Lord Berkley sold his half of New Jersey to the Quakers and in 1966 Scott Paper began selling paper dresses for $1.  In Aruba and Haiti it is Flag Day, in Ireland it is Sheelah’s Day and in the US it is National Awkward Moment Day, National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day and National Sloppy Joe Day.

I know many of you are wondering what or who Sheelah is and why does she have a day.  Here is what I have been able to find.  Even the Irish aren't exactly sure who Sheelah was.  Some say she was St. Patrick's wife; some say his mother.  But one thing that they all seem to agree on is how this day should be celebrated: by drinking whiskey.  The shamrock worn on St. Patrick's Day is supposed to be worn on the following day as well, until it is "drowned" in the last glass of the evening.  Many of the articles I found say she was St Patrick’s wife.  The one thing they all agree on is that the day involves drinking more whiskey, so bottoms up!

I recently read an article that stated that a person suffered from “hippophobia.”  I assumed that the person was afraid of hippos, but looked it up just to be sure.  In fact it means that the person has a fear of horses.  Several things came to mind when I discovered this.  The first was why ”hippo” if it is about horses?  The second was why can’t you just say someone has a fear of horses?  I started looking and found that there is a rather long list of phobias.  For example, there is “didaskaleinophobia” which is a fear of school.  My fear would be that they would ask me to spell that word.  Another is “pogonophobia,” a fear of beards.

“Honey, if we are going to continue dating, you are going to have to shave off your beard.”

“Why?  I like my beard.  It took me a long time to get it the way I want it.”

“I understand that, but I have pogonophobia.”

“I’m so sorry.  I didn’t know.  What is that?”

“A fear of beards.”

“How about if I just promise that it won’t hurt you?”

Some other fears are “epistolophobia,” the fear of correspondence, “homichlophobia,” the fear of fog, “eisoptrophobia,” the fear of mirrors and “harpaxophobia,” the fear of robbers.  The problem with all of these phobias is that you cannot tell what they mean by hearing or seeing the word.  If someone told you that they had “nelophobia,” your first response would be to ask what that meant.  They would then explain that they had a fear of glass.  I would think it would have been simpler to say that they had a fear of glass.  It is easier to understand, skips the middle man and gets right to the actual problem.

If you are looking to impress a person, you can say that you have “apiphobia” and they will be somewhat solicitous and ask you what that is.  You will explain that it is a fear of bees.  They will say, “I know!  I hate those damn things, too!”  Then they will ask why you didn’t just say that in the first place.  The fear that got me was “hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia” – the fear of long words.  I could go on but I fear that I have exhausted the subject and, yes, I looked it up and there is no specific phobia for running a subject into the ground.

Recently I have been doing some cooking and baking, doing things I have never done before.  One example is making Irish Soda Bread.  The recipe calls for making an “X” on the top of the loaf before baking.  I have seen this bread in stores and bakeries all over the place and the “X” always looks nice and neat and you can see exactly what it is.  I cut the “X” in mine and when it came out of the oven it looked like something had been dropped on top of the bread while it baked.  Another issue was when we tried to do a prime rib roast.  We followed the directions in the recipe, even though some of it sounded a little strange.

The recipe said to preheat the oven to 500 F and cook the meat for five minutes per pound, we did it for six just to be sure.  Then it said that once the time was done, turn the oven off and let it sit, undisturbed, in the oven for two hours.  Sounds simple enough; however, it didn’t work.  I sensed there was a problem when, after the two hours, I went to remove the pan and could handle it without a mitt.  I was right.  The outside was cooked nicely, the inside could have been bandaged and sent back out to pasture.  It took some work and the help of our microwave, but we eventually got the meat on the table.  In the future, we will just take everyone out for a prime rib dinner.  That will be easier and there will be less mess to clean up afterward.

This week our fact tells us that when Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25 miles per year.  I am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing.  I suppose that would tell you that it is thick and rich and that is a good thing.  It would also tell you that you better have plenty of time to pour it.  You should also start pouring before your food is served, that way it won’t get cold waiting for the ketchup to come out.  Of course that does not take into account the squeeze bottles they use now.  Those bottles put the ketchup out at about 100 miles a second, it comes out in a large, uncontrollable blob and is accompanied by a sound that makes everyone else in the diner turn and look at you disdainfully.  You point to the ketchup bottle and they nod, but you know they are thinking, “Yeah, right, the old ketchup bottle trick.”

Today is Sunday, March 11 and there are only 21 until Easter.  In this area, we are hoping the snow will melt in time for Easter egg hunts.  It is difficult to hide colored eggs on white snow.  Plus, it will be easy to see the footprints from where the people hiding the eggs walked.  Today we remember the birthdays of Torquato Tasso, Robert Treat Paine and Bobby McFerrin.  On this day in 1302 it was Romeo and Juliet’s wedding day, according to Shakespeare, in 1789 Benjamin Banneker along with Pierre L’Enfant began to lay out Washington, DC and in 1953 an American B-47 accidentally dropped a nuclear bomb on South Carolina, but the bomb didn’t go off due to six safety catches.  In Mauritius it is Maha Shivaratree and in the US it is National Johnny Appleseed Day, National Oatmeal Nut Waffle Day, National Worship Tools Day and Daylight Savings begins.  For those of you who need an excuse, tomorrow is National Napping Day – the Day After the Return of Daylight Savings Day.

I have covered this in the past, but always feel the need to rehash the information regarding Daylight Savings Time.  Here is a timeline of Daylight Savings Time in the US:

1784 - The idea of daylight saving is first conceived by Benjamin Franklin.

1914-1918 - Britain goes on DLS during World War I.

March 19, 1918 - The Standard Time Act establishes time zones and daylight saving. Daylight saving is repealed in 1919, but continues to be recognized in certain areas of the United States.

1945-1966 - There is no federal law regarding Daylight Saving Time.

1966 - The Uniform Time Act of 1966 establishes the system of uniform Daylight Savings Time throughout the United States. The dates are the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. States can exempt themselves from participation.

1974-1975 - Congress extends DLS in order to save energy during the energy crisis.

1986-2006 - Daylight Savings Time begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October.

August 8, 2005 - President George W. Bush signs the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. Part of the act will extend Daylight Savings Time starting in 2007, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

What makes this all the more interesting is that while most people want to do away with DST, Florida wants to move in the opposite direction: permanent daylight savings time.  The Florida Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act on Tuesday, three weeks after the state’s House of Representatives, and sent it to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature or veto.  The problem? Florida doesn’t have the authority to adopt daylight savings time year-round.  The Federal government controls the nation’s time zones, as well as the start and end dates of daylight savings time. States can choose to exempt themselves from daylight savings time — Arizona and Hawaii do — but nothing in federal law allows them to exempt themselves from standard time.  So, stand by while we watch this one play out.  

Okay, I think we have covered that as far as we need to.  But I will point out one other issue that is a problem caused by DST.  I am a lover of watches.  I will not give the exact number that I own, but let’s say it is a number much larger than the average person owns.  Because I also tend to be OCD (or CDO so that it is in alphabetical order as my brother points out), this time change creates a bit of a problem for me.  I cannot simply change each watch as I use it, for two reasons.  One is because I need to have them all correct at the same time.  The other reason is because I will not always remember which ones I changed and which ones I didn’t so that would just create confusion that I really don’t need.

Let me tell you what I go through twice a year because of these time changes.  First, I have to take out my watches and lay them out on a table.  Next I have to wait until the sweep hand on each watch reaches 12 so that I can pull out the stem to set the time.  Once I have all the watches stopped, I have to set the correct time on them, allowing enough time to get them all set and ready, usually setting them a couple minutes ahead of the actual time so that they are all coordinated.  Finally, I have to wait for the correct time to show on my phone and then push all the stems back in so that the change has been taken care of.  Now I think we are done with this topic.

As you are aware, St Patrick’s day is next Saturday.  Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland.  While there’s nothing particularly Irish about shamrock-shaped cookies or green-frosted cupcakes, you might be surprised to learn that the traditional St. Paddy’s meal—corned beef and cabbage—is no more authentic. Like many aspects of St. Patrick’s Day, the dish came about when Irish-Americans transformed and reinterpreted a tradition imported from the Emerald Isle.

The wave of immigrants brought their own food traditions, including soda bread and Irish stew. Pork was the preferred meat, since it was cheap in Ireland.  But in the United States, pork was prohibitively expensive for most newly arrived Irish families, so they began cooking beef.  Members of the Irish working class in New York City frequented Jewish delis and lunch carts, and it was there that they first tasted corned beef. Cured and cooked much like Irish bacon, it was seen as a tasty and cheaper alternative to pork.  And while potatoes were certainly available in the United States, cabbage offered a more cost-effective alternative to cash-strapped Irish families.  So, if you want a truly Irish St Patrick’s Day meal enjoy a nice pork loin and some Yukon Gold potatoes.

This week, our fact once again causes me to wish there were explanations attached to these laws.  In Atlanta, GA it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp.  I find it hard to believe that this was an ongoing problem that required a regulation prohibiting it.  Were giraffes, at one time, a favored pet in Atlanta and people started tying them to poles and forgetting them?  I would think that tying them to a pole would be better than letting them roam free, but that’s just me.

Don’t forget to nap tomorrow and have a happy St Patrick’s Day!

Today is Sunday, March 11 and there are only 21 until Easter.  In this area, we are hoping the snow will melt in time for Easter egg hunts.  It is difficult to hide colored eggs on white snow.  Plus, it will be easy to see the footprints from where the people hiding the eggs walked.  Today we remember the birthdays of Torquato Tasso, Robert Treat Paine and Bobby McFerrin.  On this day in 1302 it was Romeo and Juliet’s wedding day, according to Shakespeare, in 1789 Benjamin Banneker along with Pierre L’Enfant began to lay out Washington, DC and in 1953 an American B-47 accidentally dropped a nuclear bomb on South Carolina, but the bomb didn’t go off due to six safety catches.  In Mauritius it is Maha Shivaratree and in the US it is National Johnny Appleseed Day, National Oatmeal Nut Waffle Day, National Worship Tools Day and Daylight Savings begins.  For those of you who need an excuse, tomorrow is National Napping Day – the Day After the Return of Daylight Savings Day.

I have covered this in the past, but always feel the need to rehash the information regarding Daylight Savings Time.  Here is a timeline of Daylight Savings Time in the US:

1784 - The idea of daylight saving is first conceived by Benjamin Franklin.

1914-1918 - Britain goes on DLS during World War I.

March 19, 1918 - The Standard Time Act establishes time zones and daylight saving. Daylight saving is repealed in 1919, but continues to be recognized in certain areas of the United States.

1945-1966 - There is no federal law regarding Daylight Saving Time.

1966 - The Uniform Time Act of 1966 establishes the system of uniform Daylight Savings Time throughout the United States. The dates are the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. States can exempt themselves from participation.

1974-1975 - Congress extends DLS in order to save energy during the energy crisis.

1986-2006 - Daylight Savings Time begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October.

August 8, 2005 - President George W. Bush signs the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. Part of the act will extend Daylight Savings Time starting in 2007, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

What makes this all the more interesting is that while most people want to do away with DST, Florida wants to move in the opposite direction: permanent daylight savings time.  The Florida Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act on Tuesday, three weeks after the state’s House of Representatives, and sent it to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature or veto.  The problem? Florida doesn’t have the authority to adopt daylight savings time year-round.  The Federal government controls the nation’s time zones, as well as the start and end dates of daylight savings time. States can choose to exempt themselves from daylight savings time — Arizona and Hawaii do — but nothing in federal law allows them to exempt themselves from standard time.  So, stand by while we watch this one play out.  

Okay, I think we have covered that as far as we need to.  But I will point out one other issue that is a problem caused by DST.  I am a lover of watches.  I will not give the exact number that I own, but let’s say it is a number much larger than the average person owns.  Because I also tend to be OCD (or CDO so that it is in alphabetical order as my brother points out), this time change creates a bit of a problem for me.  I cannot simply change each watch as I use it, for two reasons.  One is because I need to have them all correct at the same time.  The other reason is because I will not always remember which ones I changed and which ones I didn’t so that would just create confusion that I really don’t need.

Let me tell you what I go through twice a year because of these time changes.  First, I have to take out my watches and lay them out on a table.  Next I have to wait until the sweep hand on each watch reaches 12 so that I can pull out the stem to set the time.  Once I have all the watches stopped, I have to set the correct time on them, allowing enough time to get them all set and ready, usually setting them a couple minutes ahead of the actual time so that they are all coordinated.  Finally, I have to wait for the correct time to show on my phone and then push all the stems back in so that the change has been taken care of.  Now I think we are done with this topic.

As you are aware, St Patrick’s day is next Saturday.  Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland.  While there’s nothing particularly Irish about shamrock-shaped cookies or green-frosted cupcakes, you might be surprised to learn that the traditional St. Paddy’s meal—corned beef and cabbage—is no more authentic. Like many aspects of St. Patrick’s Day, the dish came about when Irish-Americans transformed and reinterpreted a tradition imported from the Emerald Isle.

The wave of immigrants brought their own food traditions, including soda bread and Irish stew. Pork was the preferred meat, since it was cheap in Ireland.  But in the United States, pork was prohibitively expensive for most newly arrived Irish families, so they began cooking beef.  Members of the Irish working class in New York City frequented Jewish delis and lunch carts, and it was there that they first tasted corned beef. Cured and cooked much like Irish bacon, it was seen as a tasty and cheaper alternative to pork.  And while potatoes were certainly available in the United States, cabbage offered a more cost-effective alternative to cash-strapped Irish families.  So, if you want a truly Irish St Patrick’s Day meal enjoy a nice pork loin and some Yukon Gold potatoes.

This week, our fact once again causes me to wish there were explanations attached to these laws.  In Atlanta, GA it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp.  I find it hard to believe that this was an ongoing problem that required a regulation prohibiting it.  Were giraffes, at one time, a favored pet in Atlanta and people started tying them to poles and forgetting them?  I would think that tying them to a pole would be better than letting them roam free, but that’s just me.

Don’t forget to nap tomorrow and have a happy St Patrick’s Day!

Today is Sunday, March 4 and there are only 159 days until National Connecticut Day.  We should all plan to go there for the day.  I am sure we can find things to do.  Today we remember the birthdays of Prince Henry the Navigator, Antonio Vivaldi and Harry Helmsley .  On this day in 1789 the first Congress (9 senators, 13 representatives) declared the constitution in effect, in 1837 the city of Chicago incorporated and in 1964 Jimmy Hoffa was convicted of jury tampering.  In Thailand it is Magka Puja Day and in the US it is Constitution Day, Marching Music Day, National Pound Cake Day and National Hug a GI Day.

Since it is March already, let me give you your monthly information.  March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars.  The March equinox on the 20^th or 21^st marks the beginning of Spring.  The name comes from Martius and was named after Mars, the Roman god of war.  His month Martius was the beginning of the season for warfare, and the festivals held in his honor during the month were mirrored by others in October, when the season for these activities came to a close.  March’s birthstones are aquamarine and bloodstone and the birth flower is the daffodil.  It is also National Nutrition Month, National Celery Month, National Frozen Food Month, Music in our Schools Month and National Reading Awareness Month.  That should hold you for this month.

In looking for historic things to list, I came across something interesting.  I thought that presidential inaugurations were always held in January.  Not so!  On this day, the following inaugurations were held:  George Washington’s second one, John Adams (1797), Thomas Jefferson (1801) and he was also the first president inaugurated in Washington, DC, James Madison (1809) and he was the first president inaugurated in American-made clothes, John Quincy Adams (1825), Andrew Jackson (1829) and on and on. Of note were the inaugurations of William Howard Taft (1909) who was sworn in during a 10” snow storm and Calvin Coolidge (1925) whose ceremony was broadcast live on 21 radio stations. Apparently up through Franklin D Roosevelt, this was the day to be inaugurated.

The first inauguration, that of George Washington, took place on April 30, 1789. All subsequent (regular) inaugurations from 1793 until 1933, were held on March 4, the day of the year on which the federal government began operations under the U.S. Constitution in 1789.  Inauguration Day moved to January 20, beginning in 1937, where it has stayed since.  I am sure that you now know more than you ever needed or wanted to about inaugurations, so I will move on to something else.

I have been sort of paying attention to commercials again and I keep wondering about certain ones.  I find it interesting that there are still Presidents’ Day sales going on a couple weeks after the day has passed.  I also find there are commercials that still tout the Olympics a week after they have ended.  If people still have Olympic Fever, they should go to the doctor, it may be the flu.  The commercials that really get me are the ones from a certain insurance company.  The Washington crossing the Delaware … Turnpike one has got to be one of the more ridiculous ones.  I know I keep promising that I will not rant about commercials, but it is difficult not to when I see some of the stuff they put out.

What happened to the ones like the one where Madge has you soaking your hands in dishwashing liquid while getting a manicure?  I know I am showing my age but I remember when commercials were used to tell you what the product did, how well it did it and told you to buy it.  Those were okay.  They interrupted the show you were watching, but they were tolerable.  Back in those days the commercial breaks were short and you didn’t always have time to take a bathroom break, let alone get a snack.  

Then the commercials started to evolve and they started to become more about entertainment than the product.  Then you had to wait until the middle of a show, if it was an hour long, to get a break long enough to run to the bathroom.  Those one hour shows had a pattern.  They would go for about 15 minutes, show some commercials, run for another 15 minutes, show a longer string of commercials, run 15 minutes, run a few more and then finish out the hour with maybe another ad or two at the end.

Nowadays, you are lucky to get 10 minutes of a program before the first commercials come on.  I figured once that we were lucky to get 40 minutes of actual program for a one hour time slot.  The breaks now are long enough for you to go to the bathroom, make coffee, grab a snack and check on the laundry.  Generally, the commercials are trying way too hard to be amusing and clever and entertaining and not coming close to achieving those goals.  You want me to buy your product?  Tell me what it is, what is does and how well it does it and I might.  It may be because I am cantankerous, but I try to avoid buying the products that have stupid commercials.  I know, that severely limits the things that I can buy, but I am a senior citizen and on a fixed income, so that is a good thing.

This week our fact tells us that in New Hampshire a law forbids you to tap your feet, nod your head, or in any way keep time to the music in a restaurant, tavern or café.  I wonder if there is a special section for people outside those places who are standing there keeping time to the music, like the groups who are outside smoking.  

“Excuse me, sir, I am Officer Jones and I am going to have to cite you for nodding to the music.”

“I wasn’t nodding to the music.  I was responding to a question from my wife.”

“I’ve heard that before.  I am going to cite you and ask you to step outside to the special section for keeping time.”

“But it’s raining!”

“Just cooperate and don’t make me cite you for unauthorized weather reporting.”